Pontiff is refusing many of the perks and trappings of papacy

Los Angeles Times

Published 8:15 pm, Saturday, March 16, 2013

VATICAN CITY — Instead of the bus, a chauffeur. No longer a tiny apartment, but a penthouse suite. Not just a new name, but his own personal coat of arms.

Such are the perks and trappings of office being thrust upon Pope Francis as he assumes leadership of the Roman Catholic Church and its 1.2 billion followers. There's just one catch: He may not want them.

The new pontiff has already begun refusing some of the privileges that come with his new job, in keeping with the austere, almost ascetic ways he has pursued up to now as a Jesuit priest.

For his unveiling as pope Wednesday to the throng in St. Peter's Square, he shunned a fur-trimmed red half-cloak and golden cross in favor of plain white vestments and his usual iron cross. To go pray at a church in central Rome on Thursday, he hopped into a regular Vatican sedan, not the papal limousine. He prefers a simple miter to more elaborate, richly decorated headgear.

Such actions seem typical of a man celebrated for his humility in his native Argentina, where, as Jorge Mario Bergoglio, he served most of his clerical life. But they are new to the Vatican and to a church often decked in pomp and pageantry, and the new pope may soon be tested in how far he can take them. "He's trying to be himself, not to change himself. But at the same time he's completely aware of his role, of his Petrine ministry," said Antonio Spadaro, editor of the Jesuit journal La Civilta Cattolica, referring to the pope's position as heir to St. Peter. "He's trying to find a balance."

Many Catholics are marveling at their new leader's refreshing simplicity, his sense of all-embracing equality and distaste for show. But such values can sit uneasily within an institution noted for its strict hierarchy and, in some quarters, a very worldly splendor.

For some Catholics, such trappings form part of their experience of the divine and their idea of the glorious role of the church and the pope as God's representative on Earth.

Francis' predecessor, Benedict XVI, brought back the ermine-trimmed elbow-length cloaks and winter hats and other ceremonial garb that had fallen into disuse. "You have to remember that Benedict was a clotheshorse. He loved the pomp and circumstance and the old-fashioned outfits; he just reveled in that," said Christopher M. Bellitto, an expert in church history at Kean University in New Jersey. "Now you have a man who criticizes priests for strutting around like peacocks. I do think he'll try to tone down as much as possible the pomp and circumstance."

But even as the head of what is essentially Europe's last absolute monarchy, Francis is already discovering that his power, and his insistence on humble practice, has limits.

On his visit Thursday morning to the St. Mary Major basilica in downtown Rome to pray, he rode in a modest Vatican car with only a small security detail, eschewing the papal Mercedes (license plate SCV 1, abbreviating the Italian and Latin names for Vatican City) and a police escort. When the guards in charge of his safety moved to close off the basilica to the public, the pope asked that it be kept open.

Nothing doing. "The gendarmes of the Vatican said no," said an employee at the church who declined to give his name.

"The pope wanted it open, but the wish of the pope was not obeyed."

Francis has apparently said yes to the official papal apartment, spacious wraparound digs atop the Apostolic Palace. The apartment boasts inlaid marble floors, a frescoed loggia, chapel, private study, medical clinic and a library that was remodeled to house Benedict's 20,000 books. He will probably no longer cook his own meals, as he often did back home.

Francis probably had little choice but to accept his new lodgings. But it's a far cry from the small flat he insisted on using in Buenos Aires instead of the archbishop's palace. So is Castel Gandolfo, the 136-acre papal summer retreat outside Rome with unimpeded views across spectacular countryside to the Mediterranean, astronomical observatories and the ruins of a first-century Roman theater.

No one suggests that such luxuries interest the new pope. So far, his demeanor has been striking for its humbleness, especially toward the cardinals. He stood rather than sat enthroned when they approached him one by one to pledge allegiance. At his televised audience Friday, he looked relaxed and friendly, frequently laughing with the prelates who came to greet him.

Whether some of them are as thrilled about Francis' frugality and restraint, which many will now feel duty-bound to emulate, is not clear. "If the home office starts sending signals about simplicity, that's what's going to happen," said Bellitto. "My hope is that they will embrace simplicity because they see that that's the right model to follow as opposed to a path for their ambition. You can't fake humility."